Beyond the Frame

Beyond the Frame spotlights the MoCP’s permanent collection of more than 16,500 works as a rich resource for harnessing visual literacy skills. Our interactions with images help shape our experience of the world. From storytelling to journalism, expressions of selfhood to shedding light on social issues, photographs have infinite capacities to engage, communicate, and convey. Yet the way we see an image reflects our individual perceptions and histories. Although photographs are often considered documents of real moments in time, we should look carefully, considering not only the choices made by the photographer but also how those choices influence our interpretations. With billions of images produced and shared each day, discerning how we read pictures has become vitally important—especially with representations of historical events, notions of identity, and shared human experiences all in play. There is always more to the story beyond the frame.